Wednesday, 31 March 2010

just a quickie: tank crews have always downsized weapons, even in the real world, so i converted 2 cadian pattern lasguns to a shorter version, similiar to the one you find in the tank accessories sprue, with different muzzle and stock (this is fixed, the real tank one is foldable).

Tuesday, 30 March 2010

Even 34th Valhallan has it's own recon operatives. the colour that identifies them as recce squads is beige (bubonic brown), so they bear beige berets on the traditional olive uniform, common to all 34th troopers.

i used Pig Iron Militia Heads to represent old Valhallan heads. the gas mask is quite suitable for them as personal protection for hostile (frost) enviroments.

in this set there are 3 type of different berets: i used the one with the forage cap to represent the squadron sergeant (first picture, above).

i painted the instruments details like a screen and a gem or something like that.

you all know i am an accurate guy: every pilot has regimental insigna on his right shoulder.

Tuesday, 23 March 2010

the final weapon of my Vendetta is done! i must say this has been a little bit tricky because of the hollow case of the weapon. i decided to fill it with milliput, flatting it with the weapon flat side, then i left it to dry overnight and then carved both part as usual, gluing magnets to place.

Friday, 19 March 2010

magnets are expensive so you should use the least of them unless you are a millionaire. since i am a poor italian student, i used only 2 to magnetize the hull heavy flamer of my demolisher. the problem with this method is that the weapon rotates, which is silly.

a really smart idea (which is not mine but Orlando's, thank you bro) is to make a pin to prevent the rotation. so simple...

Wednesday, 17 March 2010

quite a painful work, meanly because of all that plastic shaving (gotta pass the vacuum cleaner on the floor). the trick is the same i used with valkyrie weaponry: make grooves, be careful, glue the magnets, let the glue dry and you're done. this is the result.

the heavy flamer is totally compatible with the hull mount, that of course can house many different weapons.

side sponsons stick to the hull thanks to 2 magnets each: pay attention to keep them parallel to the hull.

Monday, 15 March 2010

finally i made it! when GW put out Apocalypse i had the idea to build and paint a whole tank company, wondering about how the command tank should look. well, i guess it must look as this!this Exterminator is led by Knight Commander Zhukov (Pask) so it is full of kill and honour markings, a scroll, commander heraldry, custom weapons and many extra fuel tanks. in addition to this i painted it with a custom camo scheme with a different pattern (check out Leman Russ 511 to see how different) in order to make it look like coming from an older batch of production, but, of course, i used the same colours.

in the lower right part there's a yellow aquila marking from an old transfer sheet: it is meant like an honour badge or a command designation

on this side i applied the same badge painting it half spoiled... decades of war aren't bodywork friendly.

i put an extra lasgun on the back... you never know what's gonna happen when you are bailed out of the tank.so? do you like it?

Sunday, 14 March 2010

as you can see there's not much progress because i'm keeping changing armylist so i may replace things i paint with others unpainted... in any case this is the progress.in this moment i'm painting the Exterminator.

Thursday, 11 March 2010

another part of my favourite tank is finally done. this is a standard exterminator turret (1999) modified with two autocannon magazines (as seen here), a bit of riveted extra armour plating (made with 1mm thick plasticard), some jerrycans from battlefield accessories set, space marines scroll and, the final touch i love, bretonnian decal. i assembled the searchlight like the Forgeworld one, with poor result but in the end i do like this turret.

Wednesday, 10 March 2010

maybe you all guys will find me kinda unpopular but, come on, i really can't take seriously an angel winged space marine, only Sanguinius could be. astartes are not like that, they are tough, twin hearted die-hard bastards... this miniature seems a drawing from some Magic card! please take back all those dear old 2nd edition miniatures!

Tuesday, 9 March 2010

do you remember the Valhallan Tank Commander? well, i painted it and i'm quite happy to say he will count as Knight Commander Pask, but of course with another name: (captain? marshall?) Zhukov. actually he rides an exterminator and in two battles behaved pretty well. you'll see the rest of the tank ASAP!the colour scheme is a crossover between german and soviet ww2 tank crew uniforms, with the black furred jacket (worn over ordinary olive green pants) showing he belongs to some tank elite corps (like soviet guards or waffen ss tank division). i'm really satisfied about the details i sculpted, they turned out pretty well in my opinion!

Thursday, 4 March 2010

the best thing about the Valkyrie is its versatility so, in order to exploit it best, i magnetized all its weaponry and this is the result.

with my dear old Minicraft drill i've milled a circular groove (is this correct?) and then i glued the magnet, paying attention to keep it perfectly horizontal: this step is important, if the magnet isn't flat then the weapons will be skewed (and will of course suck).

as you can see the twin linked lascannon is scratchbuilt: i used, for the wings weapons, space marines razorback's lascannons and 2 other lascannons from cadian weapons team. they are long the same and with a bit of care you can make them look very similar.i used this magnets (s0201n), bought on www.supermagnete.de, check them out!

the only tricky thing on this issue is that you must never get mistaken about magnets polarity: make north stick with south and viceversa, otherwise the magnets will repel each other!

next time i'll show you how to magnetize the central lascannon so stay tuned!